#Best Mediums-UK

[psychicreadingsuk]

Exploring the Best Mediums in the UK for Creative Enthusiasts

Introduction

The United Kingdom has a rich artistic and creative heritage, boasting a diverse array of mediums through which artists can express themselves. From traditional forms to contemporary innovations, the UK offers a vibrant platform for creative enthusiasts to explore and showcase their talents. In this article, we will delve into some of the best mediums uk that cater to a wide range of artistic interests.

1.Visual Arts: Painting and Sculpture

The UK has a long-standing tradition of producing exceptional painters and sculptors. Cities like London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow house renowned art institutions, galleries, and museums that celebrate visual arts. The Royal Academy of Arts in London, for instance, hosts prestigious exhibitions that showcase both classic and contemporary artworks. Additionally, the Tate Modern and Tate Britain offer extensive collections of British and international art, making them must-visit destinations for art enthusiasts.

2.Literature: Writing and Publishing

The UK's literary heritage is illustrious, with countless famous authors hailing from its shores. From Shakespeare to J.K. Rowling, the country has produced literary giants. Literary festivals are held throughout the UK, such as the Hay Festival in Wales and the Edinburgh International Book Festival, providing writers and readers with a platform to engage in discussions, readings, and workshops. Moreover, the UK's publishing industry is robust, offering numerous opportunities for emerging writers to get their works published.

Read Also :- Psychic telephone.

3.Performing Arts: Theater and Music

London's West End is synonymous with world-class theater productions. The UK theater scene is thriving, offering a wide spectrum of shows, from classic plays to contemporary musicals. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is another prominent event, allowing performers of all kinds to showcase their talents. In the realm of music, the UK has played an instrumental role in shaping various genres, including rock, pop, classical, and electronic music. Iconic venues like the Royal Albert Hall and Abbey Road Studios continue to attract artists and music aficionados from around the world.

4.Film and Television

The UK's influence on the film and television industry cannot be overstated. London, in particular, has been a backdrop for numerous blockbuster films and acclaimed TV series. The British Film Institute (BFI) preserves and promotes the country's film heritage, offering screenings, exhibitions, and resources for filmmakers. Additionally, institutions like the National Film and Television School nurture emerging talents, contributing to the continued growth of the industry.

5.Digital Arts: Animation and Game Development

With the rise of technology, digital arts have gained significant traction. The UK is home to innovative animation studios and game development companies that have produced globally recognized content. Events like the London Film and Comic Con celebrate digital art forms, bringing together creators and enthusiasts. The government's support for the digital creative sector has further facilitated its growth and success.

Visit Here For More Information About This :- Psychic Text Readings.

Conclusion

The United Kingdom's artistic landscape is a tapestry woven with a myriad of mediums, each offering a unique platform for creative expression. From the traditional realms of painting and literature to the cutting-edge fields of digital arts, the UK continues to foster an environment where creative enthusiasts can flourish. With its rich history, cultural diversity, and unwavering commitment to artistic endeavors, the UK remains a powerhouse in the global creative scene.

[claudiajcregg]

Happy one-year anniversary to this! I can't believe there's still a month to go, but I am so excited to see bestie @wavesoutbeingtossed again after 11.5 (?!!!) years.

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Gnarls Barkley - Crazy 2006

"Crazy" is the debut single of American soul duo Gnarls Barkley, taken from their 2006 debut album, St. Elsewhere. It became the first single to top the UK Singles Chart on download sales alone. The song remained at the top of the British charts for nine weeks, the longest number-one spell for more than ten years. The band and their record company then decided to remove the single from music stores in the country (while keeping the download available) so people would "remember the song fondly and not get sick of it". "Crazy" dropped to number five, before disappearing completely from the chart, as under chart rules a physically deleted single could not remain on the chart longer than two weeks after deletion date. Thus, "Crazy" made history at both ends of its chart run. It marked the most rapid exit from the British chart ever for a former number one, and number five was the highest position at which a single has ever spent its final week on the chart at that point.

In spite of this deletion, the song was the best-selling single of 2006 in the UK. In December 2006, it was nominated for the United Kingdom's Record of the Year but lost to "Patience" by Take That. "Crazy" won a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2007 and was also nominated for Record of the Year, and it won a 2006 MTV Europe Music Award for Best Song. The music video was nominated for three 2006 MTV Video Music Awards: Best Group Video, Best Direction, and Best Editing, and won the latter two. It was also nominated for a 2006 MTV Europe Music Award for Best Video. "Crazy" was named the best song of 2006 by Rolling Stone and by The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. "Crazy" was performed at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards, with Danger Mouse and Green dressed as various Star Wars characters.

The single entered multiple other single charts throughout Europe, including the German, the Swedish, the Austrian and the Irish Singles Charts, and the Dutch Top 40, resulting in a number one position on the European Hot 100 Singles. "Crazy" also performed strongly outside Europe, with top-five positions on the New Zealand and Australian Single Charts, and was also certified gold in both countries. In the US, the song "Crazy" spent seven consecutive weeks in the number-two spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

Musically, "Crazy" was inspired by film scores of Spaghetti Westerns, in particular by the works of Ennio Morricone, and the song "Last Men Standing" by Gian Piero Reverberi and Gian Franco Reverberi from the 1968 Spaghetti Western Django, Prepare a Coffin, an unofficial prequel to Django. "Crazy" samples the song, and also utilizes parts of the main melody and chord structure. Because of this, the Reverberis are credited as songwriters along with CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse. "Crazy" was used in several films and TV shows including Kick-Ass, I Think I Love My Wife, Religulous, The Big Short, Cold Case, How to Rock, Grey's Anatomy, Medium, Boyhood, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

"Crazy" received a total of 86,8% yes votes!

[thebibliosphere]

quick question because i am a long time follower and know that you have a lot of shit happening at all times and want to support you: where's the best place/the place that will get you the most money for getting a physical copy of a silly vampire/werewolf book? It sound amazing for reading because rn all i have motivation for is fanfic and silly fantasy and not reading any of my textbooks.

Unlike digital copies, where you can buy directly from my storefront, there's little to no difference in my royalties when it comes to paperbacks. I get paid the same amount regardless of where you buy from, which the last time I checked was, eh, about $2.80

If a store is selling for above the recommended retail price, I still get paid the same flat rate percentage, the profit on the price raising goes to the store.

So, wherever works best for you!

If you're in the US, I will recommend bookshop.org, not just because they are fighting the good fight against the Zon and give a chunk of their profits to independent bookstores, but because their affiliate program pays authors the best rates whenever you buy a book using their links.

Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites, Flirting with Fangs Edition. (high heat version)

Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites, Fluff and Fangs Edition (medium heat version)

(What's the difference between the two? Glad you asked)

Also, if you use my links to buy anything from BookShop.org, even if you don't buy a copy of Hunger Pangs, BookShop.org still sends me a small commission out of their profit (it's like a dollar per book, roughly). So, if you're so inclined to give me free money, you can click on my affiliate links and throw a little change my way.

I am trying to get my books into BookShop.org UK and their other sites, but it's a slow process.

If you're not in the US, it doesn't really affect me. Again, buy wherever works best for you! It's all roughly the same.

[bittsandpieces]

Welcome

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE YOUR AGE OR AGE RANGE (I.E. 20s, 30s, ETC) IN YOUR BIO WHEN YOU FOLLOW ME, I WILL BLOCK YOU. NO EXCEPTIONS

Hi! I'm Bitts, I'm 24, nonbinary (they/them), and I live in the US, in colorado. I've been in the kink world for many years, both domming and subbing. You can find me on FetLife under the same username, where all the stuff I can't post on here is located! My fetlife is currently on hiatus but all my old posts are still up

I am poly, single, and bisexual! Open to connections but not actively looking for them

I am 5'3"/160cm tall and my bra size is 32i in American sizing, 32g in UK sizing! My bras are all from the UK brand Freya because they're consistently the only brand that carries bras that fit me that aren't ugly. If you know of a brand that makes clothes or lingerie that would fit my proportions, please share it with me!

Notable kinks that you'll see on this blog:

incest kink (particularly sibling, sometimes other dynamics. Do not call me little sister/sis, I am not a girl)

breeding

a bit of daddy/mommy dom stuff

occasional intox and cnc

power exchange

impact play (I am a medium to heavy sadist and light masochist)

primal play/pet play

bondage

If the first one is an ick for you, feel free to block the tag #fauxcest. I do my best to tag all my incest posts with that but sometimes one will slip through the gaps!

Now, for the people who have asked: if you'd like to donate to me, my cashapp is $bittsandpieces2, and my venmo is @bittsandpieces

You can find my original posts under the tags #bitts posts, #my pics, and #bitts answers for responses to asks!

[finnlongman]

About Me, My Books, and My Research (2024 Edition)

Hi, I'm Finn, a writer, medievalist, and all-round nerd. You may know me as the author of The Butterfly Assassin, "that person who wrote the trans Cú Chulainn article", the weird nerd in the Tumblr corner writing excessively long and incomprehensibly niche posts about their research, or something else entirely. I am all of those things! (Well, depending on what the 'something else' is, anyway...)

Currently, I'm a PhD student at the University of Cambridge researching friendship in the late Ulster Cycle (c. 12th-17th centuries). I have an MA in Early and Medieval Irish from University College Cork, and wrote my thesis about Láeg mac Ríangabra, my best beloved. I also have an undergrad degree in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic from Cambridge, and wrote my dissertation about queer readings of Táin Bó Cúailnge, including transmasculine readings of Cú Chulainn.

You can find out more about my research on my website, which also includes info about all of my academic publications. This includes the aforementioned "trans Cú Chulainn article", an article about Láeg in the Death of Cú Chulainn, an article about the seven Maines, and a discussion of a conference on Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire from the perspective of my own work on lament and grief. Whenever possible, I try to make my research available Open Access. If you're ever having trouble finding one of my articles, please contact me!

If you want recommendations for books about medieval Irish (or Welsh) literature, this list on my Bookshop page has all my go-to recommendations. If you buy via this link, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, so this is a great way to support me.

I am also an author, and I write both YA and adult novels. Again, my website is the place to go for all the info and links, but a quick summary:

The Butterfly Assassin trilogy (The Butterfly Assassin, 2022; The Hummingbird Killer, 2023; Moth to a Flame, 2024): YA thrillers about a traumatised teenage assassin who is trying (and failing) to live a normal life in a fictional closed city in Yorkshire. Featuring friendship, street art, Esperanto, zero romance, and a whole lot of murder, as well as increasingly unsubtle commentary on the UK arms industry and the military recruitment of vulnerable teenagers.

The Wolf and His King (coming Spring 2025 from Gollancz): a queer retelling of 'Bisclavret' by Marie de France which uses werewolfism as a metaphor to explore chronic pain and illness. Also very much about yearning, exile, and the mortifying ordeal of being known.

The Animals We Became (coming 2026 from Gollancz): a queertrans retelling of the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi looking at gender, compulsory heterosexuality, and trauma, through the medium of nonconsensual animal transformations.

To Run With The Hound (coming 2027 from Gollancz): my take on the Ulster Cycle, looking at why Táin Bó Cúailnge is a tragedy and what it means to be doomed by the narrative, but not in the way you thought you were. Featuring a lot of feelings about Cú Chulainn, Fer Diad, and Láeg.

You can find out more about my recently-announced medieval retellings in this blog post.

I generally tag personal posts and selfies as “#about the author”; other than that, I think I’m pretty straightforward with my tagging system.

I’m very happy to answer questions about medieval Irish lit, my research, or my books, or just generally to chat. Send questions via asks, chat via DMs, and if you're looking for my articles, you can email me at finn [at] finnlongman [dot] com, which is also the best way to contact me for professional enquiries, whether academic or fiction related.

You can also find me on Bluesky, on Instagram, and on YouTube, where I (infrequently) retell medieval Irish stories for a general audience with lots of sarcasm and hand gestures. Technically I'm still on Twitter, but I'm trying to leave.

And finally, if you’ve found my research interesting or just generally want to support me, I have a tip jar and am always immensely grateful when somebody helps me to fund my book-buying habits: http://ko-fi.com/fianaigecht. You can also tip me directly on Tumblr if you like. I’m also a Bookshop affiliate, and you can buy books from my recommendation lists to support me and get some great reads at the same time.

[fruity-pontmercy]

Les Mis adaptations and apolitical appropriation

I think it's no secret on this blog that I love the original Les Mis 1980 concept album in French, and that I also love comparing different versions of the stage musical. I've noticed that Les Mis seems to get progressively more vaguely apolitical as time goes on, not only in the way it's viewed in our culture, but in the actual text as well.

It's natural for specifics to be lost in adaptation. It's easier to get people to care about 'the people vs. the king' in a relatively short musical rather than actually facing the audience with the absolute mess that were 19th century french politics (monarchist orleanists vs monarchist legitimists vs imperialist vs bonapartist democrats vs every flavour of republican imaginable). Still, I feel that as time goes on, as more revivals and adaptations of the stage musical come out, the more watered down its politics become. Like, Les Mis at it's core is just meant to be a fancily written, drawn out political essay, right?

In a way I feel that the 1980 concept album almost tried to modernise it with its symbols of progress. Yes, through Enjolras' infamous disco segment (and other similar allusions to the ideals of social change), but perhaps most interestingly to me, through one short line that threw me off when I first heard it, because it seems so insignificant, but might actually be the most explicitly leftist line of all of Les Mis.

"Son coeur vibrait à gauche et il le proclama" (roughly "His heart beat to the left and he proclaimed it" i.e: he was a leftist) Feuilly says, while speaking of the now dead général Lamarque in Les Amis de L'ABC.

What's that? An actual mention of leftism??? in MY vaguely progressive yet apolitical musical??? More seriously, this mention of leftism, clashing with the rest of the musical due to it's seeming anachronism, is interesting not because it's actually more political than anything else in Les Mis, rather, because it's not scared to explicitly name what it's trying to do.

But we've come a long way from the Concept Album days, it's been 43 years, and Les Misérables is now one of the most famous and beloved musicals in the entire world. It's been revived and reimagined and adapted in a million ways, in different mediums, in different languages and countries, and it's clear that it's changed along with it's audience.

On top of pointing out a cool line in my favourite version of the musical, I wanted to write this post to reflect on the perception of the political message of this work. We as a Les Mis fandom on Tumblr are very political, I don't need to tell you that, however, I feel that because this very left leaning space has sprung out of a work we all love so much, we oftentimes forget to revisit it from a more objective point of view.

Les Misérables has a history of being misrepresented, this has been true since it's publication, since american confederate soldiers became entranced with their censored translation Lee's Miserables. However, with it's musical adaptation, this misinterpretation has been made not only more accessible but also easier. As much as I love musical theatre and I think it is at it's best an incredible art form able to communicate complex themes visulally by the masses for the masses, I think it'd be idealistic to ignore the fact that the people who can afford to go see musicals regularly are, usually, not the common folk. Broadway and the West End are industries which, like most, need money to keep them afloat, and are loved people of all political backgrounds (and unfortunately, often older conservatives) not just communists on tumblr. We've seen the way Les Miz UK's social media team constantly misses the mark regarding different social issues, and the way Cameron Makintosh has used the musical to propagate his transphobia, and most of us can agree that these actions are in complete antithesis with the message of Les Misérables as a novel.

But I must ask, how does Les Mis ,as a West End musical in it's current form, actually drive a leftist message, and how are we as a community helping if every time someone relating to the musical messes up if we just claim they "don't get it"?

I'm thinking in particular of incidents like last october, where Just Stop Oil crashed Les Mis at the West End. Whether you think it's good activism or not is not the question I think, this instance is interesting particularly because it shows that, outside of Les Misérables analysis circles and fandom spaces, it is not recognised as an inherently leftist, political or activist work, and instead of just saying they completely missed the point of the musical, I think it'd be interesting to take a step back and look at what the musical as it stands actually represents in our culture today.

I don't pretend to have all the answers, so I won't try to give one, but I do hope we can reflect on this a bit.

[pouringforever]

Recently I've been nominated for a national award for my wine list - Star Wine List Best Medium-Sized List in the UK (medium is 200 - 600 references btw.)

I'm travelling down tomorrow morning for the award ceremony & going for a lunch at Mountain, which I'm very excited about.

I'm not expecting to win whatsoever, but it's nice to be considered alongside some incredible other places, and to represent the North in such a London centric field.

Last week i was also in London as I was invited to be a guest on a podcast to talk about wine, wine buying and building a list - so in a few weeks time you'll all be able to hear me chat at length about what I do professionally.

[thesiltverses]

If The Silt Verses was adapted into visual media, what medium or style do you think would best fit the atmosphere and the story? I ask because, while trying to fall asleep, I was struck by the deep desire to know how the team behind Scavengers Reign would animate TSV (and the subsequent grief of knowing that I will never find out!)

Méabh de Brún actually just sent us a Scavengers Reign rec so we started watching last night and god, it's gorgeous. Just an absolute work of confounding, horrifying, humane art.

As for our show, I don't know, really! Animation is expensive so I imagine live-action is a faintly more realistic prospect to consider. Here in the UK, we tend to be incredibly cautious and grounded about what gets commissioned for TV in any case - my impression is that weird or cross-genre stuff often only really gets a look-in if it's coming from a Reece Shearsmith-alike 'safe pair of hands' - so I doubt it'd ever get a serious look-in even if we Knew People (we do not Know People).

An indie comic-book could be gorgeous but then if we were working with a really talented artist, wouldn't it be more fun to come up with something new instead?

When I do think about adaptations of The Silt Verses, it's probably less about the medium and style and more about what we could do with a visual component - how much extra worldbuilding could be implied rather than stated outright.

I have the image in my head of Carpenter and Faulkner driving out across the countryside - and in the fields behind them is some bizarre, uncanny dancing ritual taking place around a vast inhuman figure, a wicker-man or a statue. At the end, the dancers turn and flee into the woods, and the statue gets up and follows them. C&F never stop talking.

Just finding space for these little eerie vignettes that you'd have to spell out in audio but can be more playful with in a visual medium.

[laguezze]

PAC: Characteristics of your FS

This is for or all the people with intention to marry or have a long term relationship. Next up will be a soulmate characteristic PAC. I decided to split it in two to get more details!

Now onto the PAC!

Here are the piles!

Pile 1

Pile 2

Pile 3

Pile 4

Ready? Let's go!

Pile 1

This person is a rebel. Might be a bit hypocritical about it. Like they might come from money but decide to live out their best broke musician dreams while still living in their rich dad's apartment that he bought for them. That's just one case example, take it as it resonates.

This person loves to keep appearances, they love to be in control of how people perceive them. I'm seeing they want to be taken seriously.

Long, messy, brown, curly hair. Middle part is possible.

North America, Australia, Oceania, Hawaii, UK.

Dainty eyes?, Blue eyes, light eyes.

Not too defined features but also not ugly. Might be what people call "medium ugly" for some of you. Nothing too shocking about their features.

Musician, plays guitar, indie music taste, 420 friendly? Nirvana (the band), big social life, plaid shirts, leather jackets, bad boy persona, baddie aesthetic, motorbike, cigarette, old school lover, 70s aesthetic and fashion.

Pile 2

This person is very much hypocritical, they don't know what they want in life. Very much lost with their career and family life. You might help guide them.

They definitely have unconventional dreams like opening up a tea shop, or flower shop. Which is fine, but I'm seeing they want to do that for the wrong reasons. Very easily manipulated person, it'll be frustrating for you to see. But they'll get better with your help probably.

Probably from any capitalist country. Take that as you will.

Light eyes or medium eyes but not dark. Downturned eyes.

Short hair, pixie cut, wolf cut.

Wears bandanas, baggy clothes, long skirts, hippie style, boho aesthetic, activist. Necklaces and bracelets, lots of jewelery in general.

(sorry it's a bit short, your person wasn't too specific with the looks but rather with the personality)

Pile 3

You guys got yourselves a romantic, old school, kinda person. They probably listen to music from the 50s and 60s and jazz, lots of jazz. Might love to take things slow and smooth. Doesn't like running late to things and is always calm and early. Very collected person, never a hair out of place. Always is composed. They might have been different before they met you. They probably were chaotic and funny before they met you but something happened that made them this sophisticated, chic person. You might need to bring the fun in them back, I'm hearing. Might be a judgy individual.

Latinx, Hispanic, Southern Europe, North America (East Coast)

Brown eyes, very deep set eyes, intense gaze

Short hair, very short for men, curly hair, either Brown or dirty blonde.

Long eyelashes, very pretty features. Either small nose or large nose, no in between; defined face, high cheekbones.

Medium height, slightly muscular.

60s, 50s music and fashion, coffee and tea lover, might be a cook or love to do it, kitchen lover, architecture fanatic, probably loves house decor and renovation, secretive, mysterious, romantic, candle collector.

Pile 4

(idk i swear this is not Hozier themed, there's just something about him present here)

"imagine being loved by me"

This persoooon omg. So pure hearted. Truly has the best intentions at heart. They literally are sunshine personified. They radiate light, like their smile lights up a room and they always look clean and cheerful. The type of person everyone likes. No one ever dares say anything negative about them and if they do, it's because of jealousy.

They might have a lot of pretty privilege that makes this effect happen. Like if this person was a 6/10 (conventional attractiveness scale) their personality wouldn't be as appreciated. But because they're so beautiful inside and out, it shines through. I'm getting they realize this privilege and it rubs them the wrong way sometimes but they won't fight against it because it's helping them with their goals.

North America, Sweden, Finland, etc, Northern Europe and UK.

Blonde hair, short hair, curly hair, honey hair.

blue eyes, light eyes, almond shaped eyes

Bunny pretty (that one TikTok trend ifykyk), slim, short, cherubin look (if you don't know what that is, think cupid angel type of beauty), white clothes, flowy dresses, short eyelashes, defined jawline, big smile, straight teeth, bunny teeth, cardigans.

Hope it resonates for all of you!!! 💕

[brian-in-finance]

Forget Me Not is not just a gin…

It’s an opportunity to support the arts and acknowledge the positive contribution creative industries make to society.

Literature, visual and performance art touches our lives daily. Sadly, arts funding everywhere has been cut over the past decade, affecting many artists at the outset of their careers. We want to help plug the funding gap so that tomorrow’s important artists get the support they need to reach their full potential.

See our Projects section for more information on how we will use profits from Forget Me Not to support arts programmes around the world.

Caitríona Balfe x

Our Projects

We will regularly update you with information on the arts projects we are funding from our profits. We are proud that our first project has been to sponsor the SWG3 Graduate Programme.

The SWG3 Graduate Programme is a 12-month sponsored studio residency and commissioning programme open to artists and designers each year. The programme has been running since 2005 when SWG3 and has become one of the most sought after opportunities in the UK for creatives to continue to develop their practice after higher education.

SWG3’s accessible approach to the arts, and their focus on early stage support for creative talent has enabled over 60 graduates to date to benefit from their studio programme, and go on to become established, successful practitioners.

The application process opens every September, and is available to all current year graduates and leavers from arts and creative industry practical courses who can show a studio based approach to their work, and a real commitment to their practice.

PROJECT 1

Amanda Seibæk

Amanda Seibæk is a Danish artist who works across painting and printmaking.

As a graduate of Glasgow School of Art, Seibæk works with autotheory – connecting multiple fields of knowledge, never deeming any irrelevant for her explorations. This she uses as a tool to describe turmoil in contemporary life though a more poetic lens. The subject rages from neuroscience through to mundane weekend tales told by her friends.

Materially, Seibæk connects the mediums of painting and printmaking. She sees colours in layers and with colours she shapes her figures. When connecting print and paint she tries to develop a language where print is not locked, but rather freed by the brush as a playful tool to make sense of something intuitive.

An unforgettable taste

Forget Me Not is a smooth botanical gin exquisitely distilled and lovingly handcrafted in Scotland, with hints of citrus and delicate floral notes including Lavender and touches of Elderflower. Created with love by Caitríona Balfe.

Botanical ingredients:

Juniper / Coriander Seed / Liquorice Root / Angelica / Rosehip / Elderflower / Lavender / Orange Peel / Beetroot / Coconut

(Always) remember… Forget Me Not gin is best served over ice with classic tonic and garnished with a slice of orange & sprig of fresh mint. — Forget Me Not Gin

Who doesn’t love a built-in “Remember?” 😝

[cherrylng]

Matthew Bellamy & Dominic Howard & Chris Wolstenholme interview - Muse [ROCKIN'ON (May 2000)]

"I think we're more honest about the times we live in than Radiohead."

Face this irreverent ‘beautiful mess’! While roaring demons and falsetto angels make a secret pact, Muse recaptures the physicality of rock with their superb technique and excessive staging, and even celebrates despair with all their might. There is no blind spot for these guys!!

Interview: Naoya Kida / Interpretation: Noboru Takami / Photography: DAISKE

Muse's showcase in Japan was a spectacular show that relentlessly hit the ‘sound of the times’. Matthew Bellamy's vocals, which utilise an idea that no one had thought of before - alternating between an effects-processed microphone and a normal microphone - attempt to represent all inner "voices" such as sadness, loneliness, joy, and madness, as well as his excessive performance in which he wields a modified guitar like a sword and his insane, virtuoso technique. He stepped through the dirt board that was placed on top of progressive rock and stole the techniques, mastered the sad melodies and flamenco rhythms in Spain, and possessed the "miraculous falsetto" of Jeff Buckley, who was supposed to be dead - I could only laugh and surrender to the possibilities of such outrageous rock.

Far from the objectivity of Radiohead, who reflect the world as it is, Muse lives in chaos. Now they stand on stage as if they are celebrating the story of despair that once ended with the death of Kurt Cobain. There is nothing to fear, despair openly, and cry out. If there is no hope in reality, you are the one who is beautiful and interesting, and that is the kind of fresh courage that resides in them. They have the overwhelming power to do justice to the jokey band name ‘Goddess’. In the 90s, rock music has been reduced to a struggle with self-consciousness, but these guys easily love and release their confused selves, and say that they are the right ones. And the moment this becomes possible, all hatred of the world, despair and everything else vanishes. Muse is a reckless narcissist who is heading for the extreme value of such catharsis.

In Melody Maker magazine, Matthew told us that his mother was a medium, that he too was interested in ouija boards as a child (his distrust of religion probably developed after he realised their falsehood), and the disappointment of his parents' divorce. I found their upbringing enigmatic and interesting, but this interview focused on what they wanted to achieve and how they wanted to provoke the world. Matthew's soul despairs of society (‘showbiz’) and religion, where even death is commodified in the capitalist system. I want you to feel the passion of his ascension with no place to go.

"Bands that used to be involved in the evolution of rock have been derailed into an ideological dimension. We're trying to get it back on track."

● I saw you live last night and thought your technique was so incredible that it was going to be amazing. Do you have any ambitions to drag down other British bands who can't even play rock music? M (Matthew, Vo&G): 「(laughs). I mean, in terms of the amount of touring we do and the quality of the music we make, I think Muse are better than most of the UK bands right now. For example, Senseless Things…… Sultans of Ping FC, ehehe.」

● (laughs) Don't be shy, but who would be your ideal artist, for example? M: ‘For me personally, the Tom Waits concert I saw in New York was the best concert of my life. There's no other show where you can experience so many different moods. It was like watching a play, there was so much atmosphere, I'd never seen anything like it. I'm not sure if that influence shows up in our live shows though. Also, the best rock band for me is probably Rage Against The Machine. That release of energy is extraordinary. It never stops from the beginning to the end.」 D (Dominic, Dr): 「Yeah, I guess so. Come to think of it, we used to like dressing up like girls too (laughs). I mean when we were much younger.」 M: 「We still do that sometimes. We didn't do it yesterday in Tokyo, but it happens sometimes. We started out under the name Muse when we were 16, and then we changed it to Rocket Baby Dolls for a couple of weeks, but then we put on a lot of make-up and we were like, ‘Oh my god’ (laughs).」

● Hahaha. M: 「I've always had this side to me. Deep down inside, I have a desire to be a 'whore', and that desire sometimes comes out (laughs).」

● (laughs) I see. What you said earlier about Tom Waits, Matthew used to do theatre. You did some weird pantomime-like moves on stage sometimes, but dare I say what do you think you're performing on stage? M: 「Hmmm, well…… It's like an excuse to let myself go (laughs). On stage, I can dress up like a twat and sing and express myself freely. In fact, if I started doing the same thing on the street, people would look at me with a scowl and say, "What's wrong with this guy?" But if you put a band together and do it on stage, they'll let you do it. It's like I'm going back and forth between two personalities, depending on the song. Some songs are so personal that you have to close your eyes to play them because you can't stand the way the audience looks at you, while others are the complete opposite, where you stare at the audience and point and make silly gestures. It's like, "Look at me!" I guess I go back and forth between the two during the gig.」

● Including this kind of live movement, I thought that you were conscious of wanting to restore something like human physicality in your music. I think guitar bands, especially after Radiohead, tend to go in an idealistic direction, but Muse are moving in a more physical direction, which I felt was very new. Is that something you are conscious of? C (Chris, B): 「No, it just happens naturally while we play. The way you express a song, the way you sing it, comes naturally as you play it.」 D: 「In fact, if you saw us at a gig, you wouldn't think there was any reasoning going on on stage. It doesn't seem like we're playing with anything in mind. It's like when you're reading a porno magazine, if you think too much you can't even stand up (laughs).」

● Hahaha. Well, that's true. M: 「But yeah, I've always tried to be physical. Not only live, but also on the album. In fact, a lot of people marvel at it. They expect it to be conceptual, as you say, but it's because our music is heavier, more direct, more open, more physical than you'd expect. But I think people are starting to realise, "This is what rock music has evolved into". "This is what rock music is like now". I think some of the bands that used to be involved in the ‘evolution’ of rock music, like Radiohead and Metallica*, have somehow strayed from the heavy, straight rock of Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins to a more conceptual, abstract dimension. We've (and then he wiggles his hand) - yeah, we've got it back on track.」

● I see. Did you have this vision from when you started the band? On the other hand, were there any frustrations, such as being in a very tight situation in real life? M: 「First of all, there was nothing else to do in the town where we grew up. Everyone who grew up in towns away from the big cities like London and Manchester is like that to some extent. So anyway, the main reason we started the band was to find something to do. And not something negative, but something positive. In fact, in a town like that, a lot of young people are going in a negative direction. They're so bored that they end up committing crimes. Drugs and things like that, even when they're just kids. There's really nothing to do. That's why for us the band is…… It was a prescription for not turning to crime.」

● So you were inspired by rock music in the first place because you were driven by the environment rather than the music itself? M: 「Yeah, I suppose it was the environment. But it's true that I started playing music because I was bored, but it wasn't because I was bored that I continued to pursue music without quitting. I think that's the biggest difference between me and the rest of the gang…… Hmmm…… I guess you could say that…… There's more than one reason why we started the band in the first place. There are so many reasons. So you have to be very careful when you use just one example. Because people might assume, "Oh, that's the reason?" For example, "When I was 17, just looking at all the people around me playing on computers all day and not doing anything else was enough to make me want to quit school", or "There's nothing more embarrassing than the apathy technology brings to people"……」 C&D: 「What's that (laughs)?」 M: 「But that's just one of the problems. There were also questions about the school education system itself…… The system says that "the schooling system makes the state as an organisation more powerful", but in my opinion it only makes the country richer, takes our eyes off the problems of the third world and makes the world a worse place. That's why I rejected schooling. So that was one of the issues that turned me towards rock music. The other issue is, yes, women. There are endless problems with women (laughs). So there are all sorts of reasons. And as I got older, I started expressing different feelings about different issues in my songs.」

● I think there are very few bands in the UK that have a critical perspective on society, do you have that kind of conviction? D: 「Certainly, I don't think there are many British bands doing the kind of music we do. We're often compared to Radiohead.」

● But when I saw you live, I thought that your guitar phrasing was completely different from Radiohead's. Why do you think people compare you to them? D: 「I mean, I think Radiohead are the only band other than us who are honest about the current situation in the UK. We and Radiohead are very much influenced by the country where we were born and raised. A lot of the negativity in our music comes from our feelings about the UK we grew up in. I can't think of many British bands that are doing anything remotely substantial.」 M: 「If you're talking about veterans as well as new bands, I think U2 are unique. I don't know about it musically, but in terms of the concept of the band and the way they look at things, I think they have a lot in common with what we're trying to say. But, for example, what Radiohead is doing now and what we're doing are completely different. They're about ten years older than us and I think the times themselves have changed since they were our age. So I guess you could say we're similar in the sense that Muse are doing music that's as much about ‘now’ as Radiohead were ten years ago, but these days Radiohead are making music about what's happening now for a 30-year-old, and we're making music about what's happening now for a 24-year-old. So in that sense we're different from them. I think we're more of a band of the current era, in the sense that we're honest about the times we're living in. But when I say ‘singing about the times’, I don't pretend to be singing about other people's relationships to the times. I'm just singing about our own relationship with our times. When you go into it and in the process of growing up, you create your own world, your own reality. You learn things, you experience things, and you form your own worldview that you think, "This is the world". It's completely different from what other people think of the world. So I'm just singing about the world I've shaped. It's my own view of the world, my own view of the times, and no one else is singing it. The other people are singing their own view of the times.」

● Yes. But you could say that although the perspective of the era they're singing about is different, they're targeting the same era. M: 「Oh, I see, yes, yes.」

● So, do you take pride in being a pioneering artist who correctly understands the ‘now’ and expresses it in your music? M: 「I'd like to be by the time we release our third album, though. I don't know. We've only released our first album. It's still more of a ‘goal’ at the moment. So we might fail.」

"I think life is a journey to find the right equilibrium of things. But I'm oscillating between two extremes. On the one hand I hate society and reject my audience, and on the other hand I embrace them."

● No, I'm hoping, really. So are there any bands or artists in the US that you feel empathy for? There are a lot of bands, including Rage, that use social stress as a source of energy. D: 「In America, it's…… Slipknot!」 C: 「(laughs)」 M: 「No, I seriously think so. I can relate to their music and I think they are similar to us in the way they focus on the zeitgeist. I mean, I think both Muse and Slipknot express honestly in their music how they relate to the times we're living in right now.」

● In the case of Slipknot, one of their messages is that they live in an era that has the potential for extreme and excessive heaviness, and they do it in a very pop way, which I think applies to you as well. Is it something you can relate to? M: 「Yes. So the problem is that I could easily go for the kind of music they're doing. But I think life is a journey of finding the right equilibrium of things. I'm only about 20 years old and I'm constantly going back and forth between the two extremes. I'm on a journey. It's hard to find a place of balance. So it's easy to settle on one extreme or the other. And the extreme point is Slipknot. So if you're not careful, you can easily end up with extremely reactionary music that's all about hate and anger. I think that side of me is always there. I feel like I'm always oscillating between the two extremes. On the one hand, you have bands that hate and reject society and reject their audience, or are almost hostile to them. And on the other side is a band that shares with the audience, loves and embraces the audience. And we're the ones who move back and forth between the two.」

● Indeed. So, you said before that you wanted to leave a mark that you are here, but behind such thoughts, is there an obsession that you might be an invisible man? M: 「No, I don't think there is such a thing as an invisible man. I think all human beings are equal. In the sense that we are all part of one big system that binds us all together. Whether you are a scientist trying to invent something for the future or just an office worker, you are all important. Because we all function together…… Hopefully.」

● That's a slightly cynical view of humanity. M: 「…… And I personally don't find it hard to be in a situation where I'm an invisible man. That's why I've always wanted to do music, and I have the most fun when I'm doing it, that's all. I think I'm basically very adaptable to different situations. I've been in a lot of different situations myself. For example, before I started this band I was doing manual labour, painting, and decorating. I've had some pretty hard jobs. But my workmates were all good guys and I adapted to the situation. And then all of a sudden this band started. So I think it's fair to say I didn't feel any fear at all.」

● So you were quite happy with the situation at that time? M: 「Um…… Well…… I wasn't (laughs).」

● Right? There was a kind of frustration, wasn't there? M: 「But even now, I'm not satisfied with it. I'm not sitting back and thinking, "We did it!" I still feel the same dissatisfaction as I did when I was doing that kind of work. I think all sorts of mental problems prevalent in western society contribute to my dissatisfaction.」

● David Bowie, for example, has said that he switched between different personas because he wanted to prove to himself that he wasn't invisible, but you don't make music out of that distorted impulse. If that's the case, what do you think fuels your work? M: 「……Because we're a three-piece band.」

● Hey. M: 「No, seriously, it's because we're just three people. I mean, with three people, there's a lot of room left for each of us to do what we want. The proof is that the music we make is just as powerful and loud as music made by bigger bands, like a five-piece band. Do you understand what I mean? I don't know how to explain it, but I was in four bands before Muse, and when I was in the first one, I felt like I lost myself, like I was lost, like I was just a part of something bigger. But now I'm completely guaranteed room to do whatever I want to do. There's room in the band now for my ‘whole personality’ on stage, not just on guitar. There's no one to clash with me.」 C: 「There's no chance of anyone being swallowed up by anyone else.」

● In other words, you've created this band form in order to fully open yourself up to the fact that you're not invisible, whether that's sad or melancholic. M: 「Yeah. For the time being we'll stay like this. I'm not going to say we're going to stay a three-piece band forever. You never know what the future holds.」

"I think we want to speak for the emotions of people in the social system. We're also emotionally driven and we're still confused."

● Understood. You said that "'Sunburn' is about a moth that hits a lightbulb when it thinks it's flying towards the sun", but I think a lot of your lyrics are about the disillusionment that comes when ideals are betrayed. Is this a reflection of your attitude towards the times you grew up in, your view of the times and the world that you talked about earlier? M: 「You're saying that 'Sunburn' sums up the era I live in?」

● Yes. I was wondering if it was a metaphor for how you feel, that your ideals have been betrayed. M: 「Yeah. But there were never any ideals to begin with. Ideals get broken as you get older, you know. That's why most people try to live a safe life, to stop their ideals from being destroyed. They fear the truth and want to turn away from it. And so they live a modest life in a modest town, in a modest family. They don't want to look at what's happening on the other side of it, they don't try hard to learn. Well, a lot of people don't want to talk about issues that challenge their reality…… People only want to talk about things that they feel comfortable talking about - things they don't want to destroy, things they've built up, and things they believe in. Anyway, I think I'm at the stage now where I'm trying to be as objective about things as possible. Because I think that's the best solution.」

● Do you think young British people of your generation are basically similarly disillusioned? M: 「I think they might hold it, yes. I think it's the same in a lot of countries, not just in the UK. I think people don't think about things as much as they used to. I mean, I suppose in terms of technology we're more advanced now than we were a few hundred years ago, but I think that a few hundred years ago people were thinking about a lot more things. About religion, about people. But these days, people think mostly about wasting money. They rarely think about anything else. I think that the media, especially television, has largely fostered this generation. For example, by the time I was born, computers were already part of the social system that brought me up. But as I've grown older, I've come to realise that these things are not really made for people's benefit. We humans have been bought up by these luxuries. I think that's where the disillusionment came from. In short, we don't feel a spiritual connection with other people anymore. It's called ‘apathy’ or ‘not feeling anything’. At least I think that's how I was brought up. And now that I'm doing music, I'm able to detach myself from those feelings, and I'm able to look at things and think about things objectively, and I think that's a big thing.」

● Radiohead's 'OK Computer', for example, was an album that played the role of a cold-hearted portrait of the modern social system itself. Do you want Muse to be a mirror to portray society in the same way? Or is it to liberate the emotions of the people in it? M: 「'OK Computer' is certainly that…… Hmmm…… I think it's an album that ‘describes’ things in detail. But the music we make is not that clear-cut. It's obviously the difference in age (laughs). So it's more like the inhabitants depicted in 'OK Computer'.」

● If 'OK Computer' was an album that objectively observed a certain system, then you guys are actually living in that system, feeling various things and expressing those feelings? M: 「Yes.」

● So, do you think it is your mission to break within the social system, or to be a voice for those who are going through similar experiences, or to speak for them and liberate them? M: 「Ah, yeah, I think I want to speak for them. At the moment, yes. I think we still tend to get carried away with our emotions, and I think we're still confused in many areas. I mean I always take the stance that "I don't really know". I haven't reached the point where I can express in my music what is right and what is wrong, or what this is all about. I'm not confident enough yet to sing something so direct, so black and white. I'm still confused.」

● I see. Now for the last question. From the passion and almost perfectionist performance you showed at last night's show, I felt your determination that if there is no ideal in the world and there is only confusion, then you have to create your own ideal world. What are your last remaining ideals, if any? M: 「Ideals……. I don't know, I don't know. I mean, isn't it the job of scientists to prove that the ideals we humans create are wrong? It's like no matter how idealistic we are, scientists will disprove everything one after another…… In the end, people either repeat the usual pattern of having their ideals shattered, meeting tragedy and dying (laughs), or they get through it, trying to keep the balance in their boring lives. So the most important thing is…… is to not be afraid of anything. I think if you accept fear, you can leave this world and move on to the next stage of your existence. It's fear that stops us from moving forward. Fear that you will lose everything you have built up in your life, all your ideals. So, on the other hand, you have to try not to create too many different ideals. I think it's important to always be aware that everything is just a figment of your imagination, an illusion. You have to accept that fact. And physical pain is one of the causes of imagination. So I think if you're willing to accept death, you're not afraid of it. No matter how you die. Then everyone will realise that death is only one step. Why should we be hesitant or afraid, if we're not going to move on anyway?」

Translator’s Note: Hey, Matt from the year 2000, what do you mean by that you still sometimes dress up like a girl? What do you mean you have a desire to be a ‘whore’ deep down??? Hello??????

Given that quote alone, even though this is an in-depth interview, I think this interview will be remembered in another way thanks to the “I have a desire to be a 'whore'” quote alone.

* For this part, admittedly I had no idea which band had the short form named of Medaru/メダル, as no band had such a name. The closest that I could guess, based on reading up on rock music history, is that this could be Metallica that Matt was referring to.

[probablyasocialecologist]

One of the study’s main findings is that the large use of pesticides and fertilisers on farms in particular is the most significant driver of bird population declines across Europe, including the UK. This does not come as a great surprise – many studies have come to this conclusion. But this is the first study to look at the man-made drivers in one go, using some of the best data available and modern statistical methods. The results are clear.

Agricultural practices began to change significantly after the second world war, as countries introduced measures to increase the output of farms. Yet such efforts to increase output, including an increasing reliance on pesticides and fertilisers, have come at a significant cost to birds and other wildlife – and critically, the overall health of the environment.

A recent UK government report found that the loss of biodiversity, alongside climate change, presented the greatest medium- to long-term threat to domestic food production. Biodiversity loss has consequences for society far beyond endangered species.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Hello, as we head in an unprecedented third Tory leadership crisis in the UK (lol), could you pretty please do a round-up of likely candidates? Oooh or even a round-up of candidates if it goes to general election - I know it's so unlikely but a gals gotta dream!

I've started compiling sources for a Rishi Sunak masterpost, because it's definitely going to be him (assuming I get round to it - you're all at the whims of my ADHD-riddled hyperfixating bowl of sweets that I call a brain, soz about that.) But, what's happening this week (I am writing this on Monday the 24th October) is basically Tory Leadership: Speedrun Edition.

Last time it took several months after it was narrowed to the top two. This time, they'll have it done by Friday and then maybe we'll know if fracking is back on the table or not lol.

So it's Rishi Sunak vs Penny Mordaunt. To spare me wasting too many more of my worthless man-hours, I will super-briefly summarise them:

Rishi Sunak

It's going to be him. He was Big Dog's Chancellor and conspicuously absent from Partygate photos, except for Boris' surprise birthday party; almost like, if one were of a suspicious mindset, he had a long term plan to keep his nose clean.

He is, and I want you to think about all the competition he has for this accolade and then really think about what it means, possibly the single most financially corrupt Tory in the party's history.

The amount of money he openly and blatantly stole and gave to his family and friends during the pandemic is well into the billions. The billions. He is part of the reason the UK was hit so very badly by covid - between him, Boris, Dominic Cummings and Matt Hancock, we had no chance. Rishi took BILLIONS of pounds for covid and gave the contracts to the companies of family and friends, who pocketed the vast majority and then utterly failed to deliver any covid relief resources back. He is literally a billionaire, to my knowledge. He also paid to bail out his wife after she broke some law or other and bankrupted a company (I cannot remember the details of that one offhand mind, so don't quote me there - it'll be in the full post if I write it.)

This man is a hateful gargoyle.

Penny Mordaunt

Possibly the best option, although admittedly that's like saying "Out of all the turds in the turd collection this one is the least offensive in smell."

She's hyper nationalistic to a horrifying and gross degree. However, she isn't a transphobe (or at the very least she is openly Fine With Trans People, which is what we ask for.) This actually makes her enormously unusual for a Tory. In the last leadership round, the main talking points every candidate had to address were

Did they support Boris Johnson

What will they do about the economy

What will they do about the energy crisis

How much do they hate trans people

It's probably the thing that cost her the vote last time, in fact.

She won't get it.

However, if she somehow does, that gives the Tories a very small chance of subsequently winning another GE. Rishi, on the other hand, is a hated man, by both the party and the public. The chance of him reforming them enough to win a GE against Starmer is slim to none (if he even stays in post that long). So, ultimately, if Penny gets it it's better in the short term; if Rishi gets it, it's better in the medium to long term, depending on when the next GE comes.

[cookinguptales]

I got both my flu and covid shot yesterday so today I'm feeling. bad. lmao. But I also saw two movies and had fun at them both!

I'll make posts about both of them, but I guess I'll start with A Haunting in Venice because I have more thoughts about it, I think.

My non-spoilery thoughts are that I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would! The ambiance was impeccable and I think I'd watch it again just to look at it. It was very pleasantly spooky, more than I'd expected, and despite not having watched the other films, I was able to easily follow along. A lot of the acting was super fun, and Michelle Yeoh was really hot, and it was a spooky ghost story! What more could you want?

(Except subtitles, I guess, because I missed a lot of dialogue. Much more than I usually do. Kenneth Branagh's fake French accent was particularly difficult to decipher.)

Two personal things, which I thought were funny. The children's song heard repeatedly in the movie, Giro Giro Tondo, creeped me out specifically because my mother gave me a doll when I was little that she'd gotten in Italy during a business trip, and when you held its hands it sang that song. I... have a bit of a doll phobia, so I did have a moment of OH NO, IT'S THIS BITCH.

The other is that I was able to figure out the mystery very quickly because of my own special interests, which was very funny to me. I'm sorry that I am too much the target audience for this movie. ;; More on that in a minute.

spoilers below the cut

It was interesting to hear after watching the movie that the original book took place in the UK because the central spookiness of the film did feel very Italian. The old ruined palazzo, the ruinous aftereffects of the Holocaust in Central Europe, the general Vibe. But most of the main characters aren't Italian, so I suppose it makes sense...

It was definitely much darker than I had expected it to be, from a human cruelty standpoint. The allusions to the Holocaust (both when discussing Dr. Ferrier's severe PTSD after liberating Bergen-Belsen and the Romani siblings who were orphaned and forced into very dire straits to survive) were very frank and graphically discussed, which isn't something you actually see in films as often these days, and the fact that impoverished orphan children really were purposefully murdered during the plague had... very familiar vibes after being from a high-risk (and easily dismissed) group during covid.

In the end, the movie ended up being as much about metaphorical ghosts as literal ones, and I can see how a writer struggling with her wartime experiences as a nurse would end up writing a story that so blatantly grapples with the soul of humanity -- and whether it's worth protecting. The medium comparing hearing the ghosts screaming to her time as a nurse during the war treating the suffering... It does make me think about Christie's own experiences, y'know? I haven't read the book, so idk how much of it was invented for the movie, but... it did make me think about her.

As for the mystery itself... I guess there are two things to know about me. One is that I studied mithridatism (and Mithridates himself) when writing fic for Arsenic and Old Lace for YT many years ago. The other is that I wrote an original f/f fic about poisonous beekeeping around the same period. It wasn't my best work, necessarily, but I'll tell you -- I know a lot about mad honey.

So let's just say that the suspense wasn't quite as suspenseful for me lmao. From the second that one woman say "Mithridates" I was pretty ready for what was coming next, and when I saw that she kept bees and everyone kept eating honey... I mean. lmao

That said, the fact that it was very difficult to tell whether the ghostly apparitions were hallucinations or real or some combination of the two was really fun and interesting.

With Christie's Thing for poisons... I guess it's interesting how much fo the movie was about food and hunger and how food can kill you if it's not the right kind -- and how love could go the same way. The discussion of the camp survivors in Germany dying after being given milk, the children being intentionally walled up and starved to death, the siblings eating "non-food", like mice, in order to survive after being orphaned during the war... And obviously the poisoned tea from a mother whose love itself had been poisoned.

And then, y'know, the metaphor flourishing when you see how love itself, twisted into madness, was the reason why so many people had suffered and died. Rowena's fear that her daughter would leave her, Alicia's agony that her fiancé had, Olga accidentally poisoning a child she loved because she was trying to soothe her, Ferrier accidentally poisoning the concentration camp survivors when trying to nurse them back to health, Leopold's desperate attempts to protect and support his father being the exact thing that got him killed...

I'm a little too tired to pull it together into a coherent thesis statement, but... The themes are layered here. Hunger for food and for love and for companionship. Poison being added to the things you think will nourish you and those you love. The desire to be seen, by those you love and those you respect and those who you fear have forgotten you...

You have Ariadne (great name for a spinner of mysteries, btw) using a friend in order to get back her adoring public. Both Maxim and Alicia desperate for the other's attention. Poor little Leo trying to soothe his father's PTSD and being parentified at far too young an age, but desperate to be seen for the marvel he is all at once.

And Alicia's ghost, obviously, reaching out to those she'd known in life and trying to get revenge on those who'd harmed her. She wanted to be seen, too, and she wanted to be understood.

I suppose that's what the whole movie comes down to. Love and understanding and the way it can be twisted horribly even as we crave it.

The movie wasn't perfect and I suspect the subject matter will be far too dark for people expecting something like Knives Out, but I did enjoy it far more than I thought it would. The vibes were genuinely very creepy and the mystery and characters were interesting. I haven't read the book, so I can't tell you how it stacks up there.

I think, sorry Kenneth Branagh, that his casting as Poirot was probably the weakest part of the movie for me. That said, the directing was so good that I at times found myself like "sir?? why not just direct these movies and let someone else play the lead????"

(see: the lin-manuel miranda effect)

But a lot of the other acting was very good, especially Michelle Yeoh who was very hot and very interesting in her role. Boy, I was SO sad when she was the first to die because I was like "OH NO, SHE WAS SO HOT..."

/shallow

Anyway, tl;dr it was a good movie for the spooky season, even if I suspect some of the subject matter will be difficult for people to handle. (Particularly the child death.) And even if you don't enjoy the writing, the footage of Venice and the overall vibes are impeccable so you can just turn off your brain and enjoy wandering through a spooky ruined palazzo.

[trainsinanime]

The shapes of railway networks

A while ago @ariadsishereagain asked me about countries that have no railway networks, and what I think of them. That's a fascinating question that has been in my mind ever since, because the truth is you can tell a lot about a country and in particular it's history during the 19th and early 20th century by its railway network. So let's do that. And the best way to do that is by looking at the incredibly detailed open-source world railway map OpenRailwayMap, a part of the OpenStreetMap project. I really recommend it! And let's start with one of my favorite examples of how railway networks differ:

At this zoom level the site sadly only shows incomprehensible internal abbreviations rather than city names, so let me explain: What we have here are France and Germany, along with some of the UK and Italy, some of various neighbouring countries and all of Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg.

France and Germany are the ones that I find the most interesting, because the shapes of their networks are so different. Not only is the german one much more dense, but you can see completely different patterns.

In France, the job of railroads is to bring people to Paris (PLY, short for Paris Gare de Lyon) The lines stretch out into every part of the country, but almost all of them converge onto mainlines going into Paris. You can see some lines along the coasts and the borders, and there is a medium distances circle around Paris (passing MZ, DN, TO, short for Metz, Dijon, Tours). This whole pattern is known as the Legrande Star, after Baptiste Alexis Victor Legrande, the french government official who designed it. His goal was to provide great access to Paris, the nation's undisputed political, cultural and economical centre. A couple of decades later, Charles de Freycinet added plans to connect all departments to the railway network, but he still followed the idea that the ultimate goal of almost every rail line was Paris. And so it was, and largely remained. Even the high speed lines, in red, follow this pattern to this day.

A result is that you will have to go to Paris whether you want to or not. Lille-Strasbourg? You're going through Paris. Bordeaux-Dijon?

You're going through Paris, and get to make your own way from Gare Montparnasse to Gare de Lyon on the Metro (and it isn't even a direct metro, you have to change trains). It's a massive detour but it's not like you have a choice.

Even if there is a direct TGV or a connection outside the main stations of Paris, you're still ending up very much near Paris; the difference is just that you're not going via the city centre, but rather via Disneyland. Legrande wanted to bring people to Paris; he was less concerned about connecting other places with each other.

Now compare Germany, and you will see a network that is more dense, but most importantly, utterly chaotic. You can see hints of a France-like star around Berlin (BSPD, short for Berlin Spandau, which isn't the most important station but what can you do), but it's really only dominating its immediate surroundings, the region of Brandenburg. You can see vague hints of a similar star around Hamburg (AH; don't ask) or Munich (MH), but also a massive tangle around the Rhine-Ruhr industrial area (around KD), or around the Frankfurt am Main area (FF). Red high speed lines are essentially random. Some of them do go to Berlin, sure. But many, like the one from Cologne to Frankfurt (KD to FF) or the one from Hanover (HH) south, do not.

And that really reflects the history. Germany wasn't a unified country when railroad construction began, and even though it did unify shortly thereafter, there's no hiding that its different parts developed separately, with no central planning, ever since the middle ages. Germany doesn't have a single central city like France. Berlin is the biggest and most important city, but not by far. Hamburg has huge cultural and industrial influence, Frankfurt is the most important financial centre and airport, Munich is huge, and there are agglomerations like the Rhine-Ruhr region that used to beat all of them in terms of industry. And the rail network, with no single central focus point, reflects that.

That doesn't mean Germany doesn't have its own blind spots. Due to being split in two, the east-west links aren't great. Getting e.g. from Cologne (near KD) to Dresden (DH) is pretty painful. Ironically, Berlin is one of the places that really suffers from this. There are plenty of trains to it from Cologne but they take forever, and you can see why: A lot of the route isn't high speed, it's just more or less upgraded normal lines. If you have a single destination, then it's easy to build all the lines there. If you want high-speed connections between everything, that's more difficult. (Also, our government isn't investing anywhere near enough into the rail network, both compared internationally and on its own terms, but that's a different issue)

Other countries in Europe tend to be somewhere between the extremes. Spain is fairly centralised around Madrid.

The UK is just as focused on London as France is on Paris, but it has strong regional networks around Leeds and Sheffield, and the weirdness in Scotland (four different lines between Glasgow and Edinburgh and counting!).

Italy, especially south of the Po valley, almost looks like a ladder: Lines are either on the one side of the Apennines or the other, with a few brave ones crossing through.

This works overseas as well. Describing the continental US as "like Germany" is certainly going to raise some eyebrows, but the map doesn't lie:

It's all on a completely different scale, but it's also a federal country with no one single clear centre. Yes, New York and Los Angeles are big and important, but neither is an all-powerful centre of the nation. What's fun about the US is that it's almost gradient-like: The more west you go, the fewer the railroads get. You can also nicely see the Alleghenies by the shadow they cast: Just a few brave rail lines managed to make their way through or around. Other characteristic items are the huge tangle that is Chicago, the closest thing the US has to a railroad capital; and the many places where lines are almost duplicated (just count how many different ways you can get from Chicago to Memphis, or Chicago to Cleveland), thanks to different competing railway companies that all hated (and sometimes still hate) each other's guts.

So that's what's mostly considered the "western world" or "industrialised world". I skipped Japan, China and India because the post is going to get too long no matter what, but they're all fascinating as well.

But if we go away from there look at countries where the colonialism was less settlers and more exploit mostly from afar, we see another very odd pattern emerge, like here in sub-saharan Africa:

The selection is somewhat arbitrary because you can find the same pattern everywhere south of the Sahara, and in one case (Mauretania) even in the Sahara: A railroad that goes straight to the coast. (The isolated sections inland are due to issues with the map software, they're all connected to one of the lines to the coast)

This kind of railroad is designed to extract a country's resources, and not much else. In Mauretania (not in this picture), that's iron ore. Elsewhere it might have been other ores, precious metals, gemstones, but also very often agricultural products, spices, dyes. The railway line exists to take these things, and bring them to a port. The line is not designed to actually help the nation grow economically. Think about it: All things being equal, you're probably just as likely to want to go parallel to the coast as perpendicular to it.

Also, each of these lines were built because there's something interesting at the end of it, or at least someone suspected there might be. If you wanted to develop the area, it would make sense to trade the interesting stuff in Togo with the interesting stuff in Benin. But the railway lines are not set up for that at all. The goal is to get the interesting stuff to a ship, and occasionally soldiers to the place where the interesting stuff comes from.

These days, the area that I screenshotted here is actually massive, full of people. The city of Abidjan has more than four million inhabitants (more than Berlin), Lomé has 1.7 million, Cotonou and Porto-Novo come close to a million if taken together, and nobody's quite sure about Lagos, but it's at least 14 million, and the metropolitan region might be 24 million. This is a band of cities that researchers think might, in the next few decodes, become on par with Washington-Philadelphia-New York-Boston in the US, or the Tokyo-Osaka in Japan.

And the rail connections in this region do not reflect this at all. A high speed passenger line and/or a heavy duty freight line could allow all these places to do business with each other, allow people to move to or visit each other, and just spur a lot of economic development. But the powers that built the lines, the colonial powers, were not interested. They had their harbour, and the region behind it, and they just wanted to extract whatever was there.

To be clear, that does not mean the railroads are evil now. Selling natural resources is still better than bringing no money into the country. And there are a lot of places where railroad junctions and depots became the point where cities were founded, so in some countries these lines do end up connecting the most important cities, more or less by accident. It's just that other lines or more lines are sorely missing.

A simple example for how this could look like is provided by Australia, where the colonists were settlers and did want to develop the land economically:

You have the lines from the coast inland, and sometimes quite a lot of them. But you can also see a line along the east coast, connecting the cities, and you can see that someone said "we need to build a railroad across the entire continent. No, two actually". That is not to say that Australia does everything right with railroads, they have a lot of weirdness there. But you can see that the railroads had more jobs than to just move resources to ships.

(The big exception is the Pilbara region, in the north west, with its odd tangle of lines. Those are all just resource extraction lines, where the world's heaviest freight trains haul iron ore from various mines to various ports. The mines and ports are owned by different mining companies that don't like each other, so everybody has their own line from their own harbour to their own mine, even if a different line would have been shorter. That's why you get the tangle there.)

So, that's basically it. The railroad map of a country shows you a lot about how a country works, and more specifically how it worked during the late 19th and early 20th century, when most railroads were built. Where they lead to and where they don't reflects what planners thought of as important, and in turn, it has shaped the way these countries developed. And personally, I always find this endlessly fascinating.